


Be Here

by goldenboy_gav



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Heaven, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fake AH Crew, M/M, Minor Character Death, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23068165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenboy_gav/pseuds/goldenboy_gav
Summary: Gavin and Michael never got along. Not when they were classmates, not when they were crewmates either. They’d push and pull at each other, press the buttons that set them off and watch their conversation die in a beautiful explosion. Life would push them together and they would push back 10 times harder.OrHeaven is never as perfect as it’s portrayed
Relationships: Gavin Free/Michael Jones
Comments: 9
Kudos: 66





	Be Here

It was rumoured that soulmates existed. Not on a mortal plane, of course, it was thought that soulmates would need to go through the trials of life to experience their perfect romance in heaven. 

No one knows where it came from, this idea that you must experience living with someone to experience forever with them as well. People thought it was made up to appease those dying, to let the ones suffering have happiness in their last moments. 

It was weird how it passed in high school corridors, in passing conversation or anywhere that people would talk. This idea of after we live, what are we left with? People wanted to believe it, wanted to believe the ones they married would be up there with them. 

Sometimes, life and death are not as idyllic as people hope it to be. 

\-- -- -- 

Gavin and Michael never got along. Not when they were classmates, not when they were crewmates either. They’d push and pull at each other, press the buttons that set them off and watch their conversation die in a beautiful explosion. Life would push them together and they would push back 10 times harder. 

They didn't hate each other, but they could not find common ground for long enough to build a friendship on either. Their lives couldn't let them be independent of one another, yet they never expected to see them in each other’s heaven. 

It was a heist gone wrong that had ended them. Bullets hit Michael’s car too fast, not enough time to react before one pierced Michael right in his head, dead instantly. Gavin, he couldn't control the car, Michael’s body slumped over the wheel and before he knew what was happening the car crashed. The police had him trapped, they didn't stop shooting. 

They were both declared dead at the scene. 

\-- -- -- 

Heaven was always a strange concept to all the Fakes. It was a place where none of them thought they could go, where the lights shone brightly amongst clouds. This peace they thought they would be denied for their misdeeds in life. 

When Gavin found himself on a plane of clouds he couldn’t hold back his disbelief. There was a light stronger than the sun beating down on him, bathing his skin and making it sparkle. He felt shocked to be in a place deemed for people with good morals. Everything about this new level of existence confused him, especially when he looked over and saw Michael with the same shock on his face.

Gavin groaned. He couldn’t have one thing to himself, Michael was everywhere he ended up. He caused chaos in his path, loved to watch the world burn. Couldn’t let one nice thing exist to be pretty, it had to die in a fire with everything else. 

Apparently groaning wasn’t the best option for Gavin either because it caught Michael’s attention almost immediately. From disbelief to rage in a matter of seconds. He went from someone with childlike wonder in their eyes to a man with flame and daggers bursting from his eyes. He could simultaneously be angelic and demonic, a man with many sides and only one was reserved for Gavin, the one where he had to be pushed. Metaphorically and literally. 

\-- -- -- 

When Lindsay descended on the newest soulmate pair, they were shocked to see them both yelling at one another. They had only ever seen unhappy soulmates a few times since their creation. Most people were overjoyed to see who they would spend eternity with. Often a husband or a close friend would end up living in their personal heavens - people so intertwined with one another’s souls that they could coexist without much interference. 

It wasn’t very often that two people who despised each other would end up destined for eternity. Most people lived long enough to get over the grudges they’d had in life, major life events that change their outlook on people. These two seemed too young to be that wise yet, barely 30 if she was judging it on the fact their faces barely showed any sort of wear on them. No wrinkles to be seen even if one of them was seeming to go grey. 

They didn’t want to know how long these arguments could go on, years passed differently in Heaven. They flew like days instead of how long they appear to be on earth, they didn’t know if she could stand even a century with the mindless bickering. 

\-- -- -- 

Michael had yelled at Gavin for a while. Gavin wished he had a clock to time it honestly, it was almost impressive for Michael to yell at him for that long completely unprovoked. He screamed and screamed, let his lungs run out of breath multiple times, yelled until his throat was raw and face was red. 

Gavin sat on the floor, it felt like a shaggy carpet. It was soft, comfortable for him to just sit and watch Michael shout his feelings into the open. He was quite laissez-faire about being screamed at. It was a common occurrence on Earth to be reprimanded for anything and everything. Fiona had once affectionately called him her scapegoat. What he would do right now for Fiona to be here to yell some sense into Michael is unimaginable. 

Michael didn’t like it when Gavin zoned out though. He needed his undivided attention when he was off on one. Didn’t like when Gavin’s brain drifted into the sky, wanted him to come down and just listen to what he was actually trying to say to him. Michael was used to being ignored. He’d only started exploding because it was getting annoying. No one took the time to talk to him, he wanted people to take into consideration that he had thoughts and feelings and yet not a single person could care that he wanted to make an input on something. He was left out, he became loud, wanting someone to just hear him for once. 

\-- -- -- 

When Trevor and Alfredo heard about Lindsay’s ‘hate mates’ they had to see what was going on. Their space had started to build up a bit, they had a room that they had agreed on. Maybe somewhere they had existed together - clearly somewhere they knew too well. Nothing clashed, nothing moved from one place to another. 

They had designated spaces too. One sat at the breakfast bar, his head leaning left, clearly used to someone sitting next to him. The other sat on the other end of the room, sitting sideways in an armchair. He played with the ends of his long sleeve shirt, adjusting how the sunglasses hung from his shirt. They couldn’t get the things they were used to. 

The one in the chair kept tapping in his lap, the one at the bar kept reaching for something on his belt. Not everything in Heaven came to fruition. Modern technology wasn’t allowed, there were some books but not all, nothing was allowed to cause harm. There had to be limits. 

For now, they weren’t fighting but they were very far apart. There was a strange tension, not the one they were used to seeing but one that made everyone in the vicinity feel awkward. It was uncomfortable, neither knew how to exist with one another but by design couldn’t be without one another either. 

They had to find Lindsay, see if they could make a plan. 

\-- -- -- 

Michael and Gavin had never gone this long without their crew. Michael missed Jack, missed her laugh that would float through the kitchen. Missed the 6 cups of coffee he’d wake up to find, in order of who got out of bed first. He missed the way she’d threaten to poison him, say that if he doesn’t stop acting up he’ll choke on his coffee one day. 

Gavin missed Fiona. Missed laying on a blanket under the stars with her. He missed the ridiculous new ringtones that would disturb the peace they had settled into. He wanted the weight of her hand on his shoulder when it was time for them to go back, Fiona had been his best friend and he didn't quite know what to do without her. 

They both missed Geoff. Wanted him to yell them into order, needed him to be there to tell them to get their shit together. They wanted to know what he was doing, was he okay? Were the crew okay? It hurt to be without the people they had relied on for so long. It hurt more to think that the person they were stuck with up here was the worst possible option for both of them. 

\-- -- -- 

When the angels met they knew there were problems immediately. Every time the two talked they yelled, they couldn’t exist together without problems. If one sat on the sofa, the other went to the breakfast bar, if one was on the armchair the other was in their bedroom. They refused to be peaceful, they couldn’t talk whatsoever. 

They felt at a loss, Heaven was designed to be happy. It was meant to relieve people from the tortures they’d endured in life and yet here were a pair that were struggling to let go. This wasn’t somewhere they wanted to be - nor could the angels figure out why both were here at the same time. 

They’d theorised. At first, they thought it was a suicide pact until they couldn’t tolerate each other. They were too old to be in school, they were thinking and yet they couldn’t land on a good answer. They wanted to ask but it seemed too fragile right now. Angst consumed them both - it didn’t seem good to remind them of how they came to be here. 

\-- -- -- 

Lindsay tried their hardest to make a plan. If they moved one of them away they'd give the pair what they want. They thought about talking to them, seeing why they hate one another but then they didn’t want to be intrusive. 

Then a thought occurred, a plan easier to execute that could easily work. 

\-- -- -- 

Trevor thought the plan was great. He also didn’t like that he was implicated in it. There were hundreds of angels and yet he was being sent to flirt with one of the pair. He knew it was because he knew what was happening between them, that didn’t mean he had to like it. 

He went with the one that hadn’t landed yelling. He was a lot softer, more passive. He didn’t want to accidentally start an argument while he was there, just wanted to chat and maybe cause some jealousy, not too much to distance them but enough to see if they’d have a conversation. 

When he landed in their space, he saw the angry one at the breakfast bar while the other sat in the armchair. He walked over, he saw the pair glance at him. His wings were out, showing that he was just an angel. He avoided the breakfast bar, didn’t need to be yelled at for a plan that he didn’t think of. 

“Hi, I’m Trevor!” He opened, he tried to lighten the atmosphere but it still felt tense. Their resentment towards one another still suffocated him, not used to two soulmates who struggle so much to merely tolerate each other. 

“Uhm, I’m Gavin,” He said. He sounded caught off guard, he had thought that they were both alone here and yet there were angels, yet they didn’t seem like the ones commonly depicted. Trevor was wearing normal looking clothes and didn’t seem either too young or too old. He felt like a person - not an angel. 

“Sorry to intrude, we normally send angels to newcomers after they’ve been here for a few weeks just to check up,” He lied. Angels and mates only intervened if something was seriously wrong. 

“Can we talk somewhere not here?” Gavin asked. He gestured down a corridor, 6 rooms fully furnished sat unused. 4 sat unopened, spaces in life neither were used to being in. Gavin’s was obvious, there was a sticker on the door with a pair of sunglasses on it. The other opened one had a bear. The other 4 had a Hawaiian shirt, a moustache, a cigarette and a white cowboy hat. All non-conflicting. Definitely a space that the two had shared in life. 

Gavin’s room had a lot of fine things in it. Gold chains that lay on his dresser, a gold ring with a large ruby embedded in it. It screamed at him, just knowing it was real gold. 

“Your room looks like you robbed a jewellery store,” Trevor commented the second he entered. Silk shirts spilt out of the wardrobe, the bed sheets looked like a high thread count. Everything about this room screamed luxury. 

The remark sent him sheepish. He squirmed out a small “maybe” that had Trevor laughing. 

“Not talked to a criminal in a while, big crew? Big name? Or just a small thing?” It was always good to make them comfortable. Get them talking about something that was important. It was the best way to get people to open up. 

“I was in the Fakes, we were pretty big on the west coast but not exactly universal,” He muttered. 

“Los Santos! I was down there when you guys robbed a bank!” Trevor exclaimed proudly. He shouldn’t encourage bragging but everyone was so normal and boring. Old age accountants, patients from a surgery gone wrong. He never got interesting people. 

“Oh man, have I got some stories,” Gavin laughed, happy to have someone he could talk to. 

\-- -- -- 

Michael hated the sound of laughter coming from Gavin’s room. The prick hadn’t even tried to talk to him in the time they’d been here and the second someone new comes he immediately jumps at the opportunity to have their undivided attention. His laugh was so stupid, a bird squawk that only came out when he was genuinely laughing. Nothing like the giggles he used to give to their dealers, the small chuckles to try to endear them. It always worked, annoyingly enough. Gavin loved to spin his image to suit whoever it was he was talking to, the spoiled rich brat, the slut, the temptress, anything these men needed him to be he would let himself be. He let his role consume him, it was why he was the best. 

Michael hated speaking highly of Gavin but he wouldn't be where he was if he wasn't good at his job. Geoff Ramsey would never have hired someone who would be a liability to their crew, they were the best Los Santos had ever seen - slacking wasn't part of the job. 

He could hear the voices again when he was pulled out of his head, laughing. It burned in his brain in a way that it never had before. He missed his crew. 

\-- -- -- 

Geoff didn’t like the penthouse anymore. Didn’t like the way that Fiona went out alone, that Jack was staring vacantly at her breakfast in the morning. Sometimes they’d wake up to 6 cups of coffee, Gavin’s last and Michael’s 3rd. It hurt. 

He didn’t like that he walked into Gavin’s room and couldn’t smell 3 days of work and a pile of rotten food, didn’t like the ash smell disappearing from Michael’s room. He didn’t like that Gavin’s glasses were lying on his bed. He was used to how they hung off his shirt, preferred them when they were sat on his face. He didn’t like seeing the arm of Michael’s leather jacket peeking out from his wardrobe - Geoff knows Michael would go ballistic if it wasn’t placed entirely in there. 

The crew hadn’t felt the same, their heist plans lacked the fanfare they’d always had, their home felt separated. Geoff had always thought of death fondly, always seen dying in this field of work as honourable yet now, now that it wasn't him, death was terrifying to him. His favourite people could be taken away in the blink of an eye - before he even knew what was going on. 

\-- -- -- 

Trevor felt satisfied when he left Gavin and Michael. When Trevor had brought up his soulmate, Gavin got a bit sad. “We just always struggled to get along,” He muttered. It was strange, people never seemed to have a grey area, they could tolerate people they didn’t like yet they could never be indifferent to a person or a subject - everything needed an opinion, even if it was truly unimportant. 

Still, he left Gavin laughing - that was all that mattered. He was trying to get them both in a better mood, there could never be a spark if all they did was mope all day. He also saw Michael’s glare on the way out, he didn’t know what that meant, he was scared to read into anything and give Lindsay or himself false hope, he just wanted the both of them together as fast as possible - he just didn’t want to push them further away. 

\-- -- -- 

To say Michael wasn’t pleased would be an understatement, he was less than pleased if anything. Trevor flew away and Gavin came back with a huge grin on his face - it was unnerving. They’d been here for ages, Gavin had fiddled with his things the whole time, played with the buttons on his sleeve, toyed with his glasses. Everything felt dull for so long, yet here Gavin was walking in with gold gleaming off his face, the sun itself felt like it was brightening this room and Michael couldn’t stand it. 

He didn’t like how easy going it was for Gavin, how everyone loved him so effortlessly. He had enemies but they were not through his own actions. Michael did not have these luxuries, he was too sharp, would yell and scream whenever he liked. People didn’t like loudness, didn’t like loud people, loud colours. Gavin was soft, he could whisper his words, let his outfits do the talking without being out there. Gavin was the perfect combination of calm and vulnerable - people would fall over their own feet protecting him when he didn’t need it. He refused to bulk up, he refused to gain weight, he needed to be scrawny and baby-faced or people would never treat him as they did before. 

Michael hated it, obviously. He could never care for anything Gavin did, the impression that he cared was dangerous. Caring for anyone was dangerous yet he still had. He’d cared for Jack, for Geoff. He’d let the crew be the only thing his heart was in and even that came crashing down around him. He’d always struggled to care about Gavin in any capacity. Gavin wasn’t a person, Gavin’s facade always came up when he was near Michael, this impenetrable not-human that no one could ever reach. He’d never once cared for Gavin for who he’d seen him as. 

Maybe it was the effect of being here for such a long time, but Michael knew he needed to change before he went insane. 

\-- -- -- 

Gavin eventually came back to the living area. Michael was staring at his hand, clearly thinking hard. His eyes were glazed over but more importantly, he was glaring at his hand. Gavin was never one for talking to Michael, Michael was all daggers and violence, Gavin was words and demands. People thought it was pretentious, the way he was hardly involved. He had the opportunities to make commands, let other people do his dirty work and that was all that mattered, no blood on his hands. 

He missed Trevor, he was a bit ridiculous but entertained Gavin’s weird thoughts in a way that no one but Fiona ever had. Gavin had all these stereotypes about angels but telling someone about all his criminal acts was the best, he felt comfortable talking about all the bank heists or that one time he broke up into the district’s office just to put some rubber ducks in every important office. He didn’t tell Trevor about the really bad things, the parts where Gavin had been kidnapped or how he died. The bad was never mentioned. 

“Your thoughts are so fucking loud,” Michael groaned. It was the first time Michael had spoken since they’d arrived. He was always between deadly silent and yelling. Gavin liked when his voice was even, it felt a lot nicer to not be screamed at - the conversation wasn’t bad either. 

“How can you hear the volume of something in my head?” Gavin questioned. He flopped into the armchair furthest from the breakfast bar, it was the seat he’d claimed. 

“You just- forget it,” Michael sighed. 

“No, I want an explanation.” 

“Why should I?”

“You brought it up,” Gavin laughed. There was just no anger and it was relieving. 

“You think with your face all the time. You bite your lips, scrunch your eyebrows, move your hands. Sorry - I shouldn’t even be bringing it up,” He muttered. It was their first conversation - maybe ever, the first apology too. 

“Sorry?”

“Yeah, sorry. As in an apology.” 

“Michael Jones apologised to me while we both live on clouds because we’re soulmates. Just when I thought heaven wouldn’t get any weirder,” Gavin thought aloud. 

“Shut up,” Michael laughed. The conversation died there but all that mattered was one thing - progress. 

\-- -- -- 

As time went on they talked more. They skirted around the subject of soulmates, right now they were friends and that’s all that mattered. It was a process to get where they needed to be, make sure they can normalise talking to one another before they dedicate to something so much more than that. 

Trevor would visit occasionally, much to Michael’s annoyance. He popped up whenever he and Gavin were making progress, reminiscing or otherwise. He loved to talk to Gavin and Michael didn’t understand why. His first bit of attention he’d got up here was being taken away and there was this unmistakable envy that settled inside him whenever they disappeared for a conversation. He didn’t like the emotions he felt whenever Trevor was around, was used to closing himself off to anything and everything. Death had changed him - or maybe it was Gavin. 

\-- -- -- 

Trevor could see Michael getting angrier and angrier when he visited. Could feel the way jealousy radiated from him whenever he took Gavin away for a chat. This time though Gavin seemed impatient, seemed like he was rushing the conversations he used to lavish in. Trevor knew it was because they were getting somewhere, their conversations flowed easier, even if Michael still wouldn’t allow himself to answer Gavin’s ridiculous questions. Their conversations weren’t lasting anywhere near as long as before, Gavin rushing through everything to go back to talking to Michael. It made Trevor smug, knowing that they were both getting better with each other. 

He saw the way they interacted when he was gone too, the way they were slowly getting closer and closer. Gavin moved to the edge of the sofa which was closest to the breakfast bar, Michael moved closer to the sofa. They eventually had gotten to the point where they could comfortably sit together on the sofa without being awkward. Sometimes Gavin would put his legs over Michael’s lap when he was talking intently with him. 

They were best after a Trevor visit. Michael would shuffle closer to Gavin when he got back, Gavin would lean into it. A not-yet cuddle but gaining progress. Sometimes Gavin would get tired and let his head lull onto Michael’s shoulder, when they lost track of the time they could end up tangled together as they slept - the natural closeness that came to soulmates. It was nice to see them getting better, they were forming into the pair that he was used to seeing - two people completely in tune with one another. 

He liked the impression that he had left on the two, forced them together in a way they weren’t registering properly. He didn’t mind though - the less they thought he was involved the better. 

\-- -- -- 

It all came to a head when Michael flopped onto the sofa, Gavin was reading one of the books that could be summoned - The Picture of Dorian Gray. Michael’s head was on his leg, nearly totally in his lap. Gavin thought it was strange but just ignored it, contact was never bad and the closeness the two were experiencing was making Gavin feel better about being in Heaven. He may be dead, at least he wasn’t alone. 

“You know, we’re like actually soulmates,” Michael said. It was plain, a fact. It was also something they hardly mentioned. 

“Destined for eternity and all that,” Gavin added, he flipped the page of his book and he mentioned this. 

“We’re also soulmates who are yet to talk about the fact we’re soulmates,” He pointed out. 

“I mean, not a lot to say. We’re gonna fall in love at some point, we’re getting closer so it’s inevitable. I’m fine with it, if you are, what else is there to say?” 

“Well for one we haven’t even kissed yet-” Michael started before Gavin interrupted. 

“Michael if you wanted to snog me you could’ve just said so,” Gavin teased. He didn’t really know what to say, obviously the thought of him and Michael kissing was in the back of his mind a lot, just a question - a passing wonderance. 

“Fine, Gavin can I have the honour of ‘snogging’ you?” Michael asked, 

“Awh, thought you’d never ask,” He said cheekily, throwing the book over somewhere random. He’d care later. Michael rolled his eyes and sat up. Gavin was smiling, cherry lips and crinkled eyes. His teeth were white and gleaming Michael noticed. He looked smooth, untouched and unphased. 

Gavin thought Michael looked amazing. He was smirking, oozing confidence. He noticed Michael’s freckles the more they leaned in, saw the way that Michael’s eyes slowly closed the closer and closer they got. 

Their lips touched without fireworks. Their world didn’t explode, there was no spark. Kissing Michael felt like the crackle of a fire, he tasted like cinnamon and the more they kissed the more Gavin got this overwhelming sense of home. That no one else could beat this, it took years, it took decades but Michael was everything now. Now was all that mattered and right now, Gavin couldn’t get enough. 

\-- -- -- 

It didn’t take long for the LSPD to take down the rest of the crew, they were vulnerable, divided. Geoff wasn’t leading in the way he used to, Jack wasn’t being the mother, Fiona wasn’t being Gavin’s best friend and Jeremy - no matter how new he was to the crew- just felt discouraged. It didn’t take long for the police to shoot them dead, didn’t take them long to rejoice the killing of the Fakes. 

When Fiona awoke alone she wasn't surprised. She's always thought the soulmates rumour was just to make people feel that little bit more comfortable with their death. That was until she'd looked up and realised she was surrounded, with a vague mock penthouse in the distance with two inhabitants she couldn't quite make out. She stood up and brushed herself off, even if there wasn't actually any dirt on her and set off in the direction of other people. 

Geoff woke up with Jack, her hair was messy and her lipstick was smudged yet still she looked beautiful, her red hair looked glossier in the golden beams that rained down on them, her cheeks looked redder up here. Geoff was so enthralled to know she was absolutely his, that someone so precious and caring could end up with a dickhead like him. 

Something threw both of them off, the look of life not too far away. A structure within their peripherals, clear with tables and chairs, open with minimal walls. Everyone was taught that heaven was separate, that you were with your soulmate and only your soulmate. To see something so clearly a sign of life was unexpected and definitely unheard of. 

They all moved closer, the penthouse was clear in their sight. The bar was cleaner than it had ever been but the chairs and the sofa were still the same crappy material they always had been. Some things were too sentimental to change. 

Geoff and Jack got closer and saw Fiona too, sprinting as though their lives depended on it. They all knew what this meant. The final two - the ones that had left them fending Los Santos just the four of them. The closer they got, the weirder everything seemed. 

Gavin and Michael were on the sofa, Gavin leaning on Michael, letting his eyelids drop as he escaped into his dream world. Michael’s arm was low on Gavin’s waist and more importantly both were covered in hickeys. 

It was almost unbelievable to see for everyone involved. Gavin and Michael both immediately perked up when they saw their crew, the crew were in disbelief at the sight of Gavin and Michael being in love, yet nothing was said. There was nothing to say. 

Everyone was just glad to be with each other again.

**Author's Note:**

> Tune in 7pm (GMT) on Wednesday for Under My Skin! 
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated also follow my tumblr @goldenboy-gav! Xx


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